Frosted beagles
Apr. 23rd, 2008 10:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
norsegirlLast night I completed the baking of a cake for my bosses at work. As it turns out, all three of the senior people in the office here have their birthday the same week. I figure if I only have to do it once a year I can afford to pull out all the stops and make a great cake. Monday night I baked the chocolate cake from scratch and Tuesday night I did the layers and icing. The result is a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and layers of khalua coffee chocolate whipped cream. It's my signature dessert and I've found out that it only takes a few hours to bake and ice and isn't even a big deal if you spread it out over two nights. Jason thinks that alone should justify me making at least one a month. He was very disappointed to have to watch it go to work with me this morning without even leaving him a piece.
Incidentally, to anyone out there who occasionally bakes cakes, if you presently use mixes, try giving them up and making a cake from scratch. It really isn't any more effort. Instead of opening a box, you have to mix flour, sugar, baking powder and whatever flavouring you're using (cocoa, lemon zest, vanilla etc) and really, that's the easiest part. I did make cupcakes using the last box of mix I had bought last week and they tasted like vaguely lemon-scented sponges. Note that I said lemon scented, not lemon flavoured. The flavouring in commercial cakes is so minimal, and they're so light and fluffy that they mostly come out tasting like sponge. Cakes from scratch on the other hand are dense, moist and flavourful. Seriously, if you try it you'll never go back.
Anyway, last night I was doing the frosting and, as usual, beagles were in the kitchen helping out. As I was trying to get the last of the icing sugar out of the canister, it accidentally spilled it, right on the helpful beagle at my feet. Anna's back was entirely white with powdered sugar. I tried to convince Lizzy to lick it off her, but she was having nothing to do with that. "Nuh un mom, she'll bite me" was Lizzy's response as she fled the kitchen. That left it to the humans to clean the little beagle. Our solution was to moisten a paper towel and wipe her down. In seconds her fur was all damp and black and shiny and we figured it was done. Half an hour later she had dried, and all the fur was stiff like we'd gelled it. Yup, I frosted my beagle.
Incidentally, to anyone out there who occasionally bakes cakes, if you presently use mixes, try giving them up and making a cake from scratch. It really isn't any more effort. Instead of opening a box, you have to mix flour, sugar, baking powder and whatever flavouring you're using (cocoa, lemon zest, vanilla etc) and really, that's the easiest part. I did make cupcakes using the last box of mix I had bought last week and they tasted like vaguely lemon-scented sponges. Note that I said lemon scented, not lemon flavoured. The flavouring in commercial cakes is so minimal, and they're so light and fluffy that they mostly come out tasting like sponge. Cakes from scratch on the other hand are dense, moist and flavourful. Seriously, if you try it you'll never go back.
Anyway, last night I was doing the frosting and, as usual, beagles were in the kitchen helping out. As I was trying to get the last of the icing sugar out of the canister, it accidentally spilled it, right on the helpful beagle at my feet. Anna's back was entirely white with powdered sugar. I tried to convince Lizzy to lick it off her, but she was having nothing to do with that. "Nuh un mom, she'll bite me" was Lizzy's response as she fled the kitchen. That left it to the humans to clean the little beagle. Our solution was to moisten a paper towel and wipe her down. In seconds her fur was all damp and black and shiny and we figured it was done. Half an hour later she had dried, and all the fur was stiff like we'd gelled it. Yup, I frosted my beagle.
